Other Criteria have invited a selection of their artists to name a single book that has influenced their work, shaped their thinking or encouraged them to create.

Olivier Garbay said "The poem is an obvious classic. As a teenager when discovering Edgar Allan Poe I was taken by the poem for its extraordinary weirdness and desperate tone. As a young man I discovered the edition of which this is about with not only a translation that I could relate too but also winning illustrations. My copy vanished with the rest of my precious library when moving here. I am delighted to be 'connected' with it in this manner and do hope it will conquer the heart of others the way it did mine."

The Raven is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1945. In this version, Poe’s near hallucinatory intensity is combined with a translation into French by the poet Stéphane Mallarmé. It is illustrated with stark images by D’Édouard Manet to form a magical combination.

Olivier Garbay

Olivier Garbay was born in France, and has lived and worked in London since 2003. He trained at Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, and has gone on to exhibit internationally as a poet and an artist. He has also gained experience working in fashion, as well as art direction and curatorial spheres. Recent solo exhibitions include Welcome In A World Of Difference, Freedom, London, 1996; Ramification, The Pinael Eye, London, 1999 and Nature, Concrete Space, Hayward Gallery, London, 2008. Recent group exhibitions include The Hamsterwheel, Venice, Toulouse, Barcelona, Malmö, 2007-8 and RU(techne)TH(episteme)8? items from the JR Holocollection, performances by Plug and by the Rebel, London, 2008.

Recently he has published the following: Eat Dog, 1999; Like sherry on the cake in Yoko by Don Brown, Sadie Coles HQ, Koening books, London, 2005; God is Dad, 2006; For the love of you, I've known caves. in The William Blake Birthday Book published by Bow of Burning Gold, Bath, 2007; Utopia, in Stimulus/respond numero2, 2007; DyNAsty 2008 in Under/current , September 2008; IT, Christian Egger magazine, December 2008; The Mug, with Sarah Lucas and Other Criteria, 2009.